


A Wonderful Accompanist

by Silent_So_Long



Category: Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Male-Female Friendship, Music, Musical Instruments, Shore Leave
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-28
Updated: 2016-04-28
Packaged: 2018-06-05 02:10:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6685030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silent_So_Long/pseuds/Silent_So_Long
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Scotty joins Uhura in an impromptu musical performance whilst taking shore leave on an alien planet</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Wonderful Accompanist

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lah_mrh](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lah_mrh/gifts).



> HALLO, lah_mrh! It is I, your mystery writer! 
> 
> I tried my best to give you something based on the things you wrote in your 'Dear Friendshipfest Writer' letter, and ended up mashing a couple of your ideas together. I am a massive nerd regarding anything musical, so had to run with that in relation to Scotty and Uhura, and a bonding-fest whilst on shore leave! 
> 
> I based the market mentioned in this story upon the Berlin Christmas Market, as that was the closest match as to what I had in mind for the backdrop of this fic (although no worries, this doesn't necessarily take place at Christmas! ;D ). More information can be found at the following website, if you want/need it - [Berlin Christmas Market](http://www.germany-christmas-market.org.uk/berlin_christmas_market.php)
> 
> And the song that Uhura and Scotty perform is Dance Tae Ye Daddy, the video of which can be found at the following link if ye dinnae ken it - Dance tae ye Daddy
> 
> So! Yes! Anyway! I hope you enjoy the following story! XD

The noise was the first thing that Scotty was aware of when first beaming down to the surface of Bezuno; it almost seemed like a solid wall, loud and insistent and uncompromisingly jolly. He staggered back slightly, alarm crossing his features as his dark eyes scanned across the milling bodies that seemed crammed into every available space, and even in some spaces that weren't. He caught smiling faces, laughing faces, some that had bright red scowls, and yet others that were completely expressionless, yet still must have been overjoyed in their own way. He saw humans, Andorians, a few Vulcans, even one scowling female Klingon, looking displaced and angry and ready to fight the first person who even sneezed the wrong way in her direction. Scotty grinned, expansively; already, he felt at home, although he had to admit, the famous Bezuno trades-market was a lot louder and a lot less organised than the life he was used to upon the Enterprise. He began striding through the crowds, shoving with elbows and throwing a few choice Edinburgh invectives into the faces of those who came too close or refused to move or even outright threatened him.

"I'll have ye yet, laddie," he yelled, when one recalcitrant Andorian belched in his face, issuing forth fumes of something that Scotty could only describe as heavily spiced mulled wine. 

He continued on his way despite the alcoholic interruption, past the stalls that sold everything from cakes to surprisingly Bavarian style soft pretzels, to musical instruments, hand-carved cuckoo clocks, and delightfully old fashioned wooden toys, that span and danced and pirouetted. He stopped at one of the stalls selling wooden tops, and marching tin soldiers, and plucked one of the soldiers from the highly patterned table-top, grinning down at the painted face with some reminiscence. 

"I remember having one of these when I was a wee bairn," he said to the vendor, who seemed not to understand the flow of words, or his speech pattern.

He shrugged and placed the tin soldier carefully back upon the tabletop; he moved swiftly away, gaze skittering up towards the castle that loomed over the myriad stalls. The walls were thick and forbidding, grey stones obviously quarried from somewhere nearby; Scotty even noted the tall, thin arrow-slits that permeated the walls, and he wondered then if perhaps even now, someone was waiting at the apertures, waiting to pick off anyone they fancied killing, with long-bow, and cross-bow alike. Whilst the population of Bezuno were quite visibly not as advanced as that of Earth, even they looked as though they'd progressed further than the days of knights and ladies and bows and arrows. Huffing in amusement, Scotty turned away, mind already upon food and drink and the appeasement of his own growling, hungry stomach. He queued up at a nearby food vendor, and managed to procure himself a large pint of frothing home brew, and a handful of soft pretzel, and equally soft baguette, filled to overflowing with thick hunks of some indeterminate indigenous meat and smoked cheese. He took the food and drink to a relatively quieter place, where the noise was little more than a dull roar, and scanned the crowd again, wondering where the rest of the crew were. Already he'd lost sight of Uhura, of Sulu and Chekov; even Jim and Bones had managed to disavow themselves of his company and he suddenly felt alone, abandoned even and his baguette began to stick sourly in his throat. Scotty washed the crumbs down with a mouthful of frothing beer and began to pick his way through the crowds again.

It didn't take him long for him to find Uhura, surrounded by a group of admiring onlookers, her pretty face transformed into one of smiling beauty, clear voice reaching up the stars that were just beginning to pop out across the heavens. Coloured lights began to illuminate the streets and the market in turn, brightening the stalls and providing a rainbow wash of light behind Uhura. In her hands she held a beautifully carved mandolin, upon which she played, long fingers teasing out bright chords and cheerful tunes, whilst she sang. A few of the onlookers, who obviously knew the song that Uhura was currently performing, joined in, yet their voices did not match the quality, or timbre of Uhura's. All others clapped along, boots keeping the rhythm against the cobblestones beneath their feet, so hard that Scotty could feel the vibrations through his own Starfleet issue footwear. The song finally came to an end, as Uhura laughed, sound as musical as her singing had been, and her dark eyes skittered over the crowd; her gaze fell upon Scotty and her grin grew wider, one hand rising to beckon him over excitedly.

"Scotty," she yelled, projecting her voice in the only way she knew how, after years of working on the Bridge, and yelling over the noise of Jim's constant orders and Bones' equally constant gruffly kind-hearted complaints. "Come and join me." 

Scotty didn't hesitate, even though he didn't know what he was going to do; right then, he didn't care. He drained the last of his frothy beer on the way over, and set aside the pretzel upon the stall that was set up beside Uhura; he saw that there were an array of expertly crafted musical instruments there - guitars, fiddles, wooden pipes, tin whistles, even a bodhran or two, if Scotty's practised eye wasn't mistaken. 

"Scotty, you have to join in," Uhura said, excitement and happiness, fairly radiating from her face. "You can sing, can't you?"

"I dinnae ken I can, right now, lassie," Scotty said, suddenly mortified beneath the stares of so many onlookers, curious, expectant, waiting. 

"I've heard you sing plenty of times on the Enterprise," Uhura coaxed, as she linked one arm through Scotty's and half hugged it. "You've got a good voice; a nice tenor, in fact."

"I cannae do it, lass," Scotty said, head shaking ever more vehemently now. "Singing on the Enterprise is one thing, yet singing here is another. They'll laugh."

"They won't," Uhura insisted, not unkindly. "They liked me singing for them." 

"But you can sing," Scotty pointed out. "Far better than some old lad from Edinburgh."

"Well, I enjoy your singing voice, at any rate. At least play something, if you'd rather not sing," Uhura urged. "Surely you can play an instrument?"

Scotty knew that once Uhura had her mind, her heart set on something, she usually got it, usually through dint of a winning smile and a few fluttered eyelashes. Scotty heaved a sigh, knowing that he was as susceptible to Uhura's charms as anyone else who met her, and already, she was grinning, shaking his arm in pleasure as once again, he looked desperately at the stall behind him. His eye fell upon one of the fiddles and he plucked it from the brightly coloured tabletop, along with a vintage horse-hair bow and began to tune.

"I cannae promise I'll be good," he warned Uhura. "It's been a while since last I played." 

"You'll do fine," Uhura assured him, confidently, as, once again, she plucked the mandolin's strings. "Do you know Dance Tae Ye Daddy?"

"I'd be a poor excuse of a Scotsman if I didnae ken it," Scotty laughed as he raised the fiddle and slotted it between chin and shoulder expertly.

Uhura laughed, counted out the beat and began to play her mandolin, voice soon rising above the melee in a perfect rendition of the song in question. Scotty accompanied her, surprised that his fingers still remembered the right shapes upon the fingerboard, eyes partially closing as the music swept him away, winding and coalescing with the plucking of Uhura's fingers against the ringing mandolin. All around him, he could hear the sound of clapping, of exultant hooting, of boots stamping against cobblestones and the beautiful sound of Uhura's voice handling the lilting song with ease. 

When the song finally was over, he took a bow beside Uhura, and soon the crowd were clamouring for more; Scotty and Uhura were soon coaxed into playing a few more reels and even a few Irish jigs which Scotty cursed about, yet still played. In amongst the fourth rendition of Auld Lang Syne, Scotty saw the laughing faces of Jim and Bones amongst the crowds around them, and the typically arched brow of a disapproving Spock between them. 

When the last chords rang out over the crowded cobbles, Jim pushed forwards and made his way to the grinning, yet out of breath, impromptu musicians, grin still decorating the Captain's face. Bones and Spock were in swift two, immediately flanking the Captain, when Jim stopped in front of them both.

"I had no idea that you played so well, Scotty," Jim said, as he nodded in approval at the grinning engineer. "Uhura was as exemplary as ever."

"Of course," Spock said, with a huff. "It would be extremely illogical to presume otherwise."

"Goddamnit, take that stick of your green arse for once," Bones growled softly beside the Vulcan. "Live a little."

"I live enough, thank you, Doctor," Spock said, calmly. "I was merely observing - "

"Observe my arse," Bones said, as he turned away and astutely did not listen to Spock's further rambles.

"If it makes you feel better, I had no idea Scotty could play so well, either," Uhura said, as she winked up at the engineer. "I was hoping he'd sing, but he wouldn't be drawn on the matter." 

"There's always another time and a place for that, namely the Enterprise," Jim said. "And speaking of which, we need to return to it. I order you to buy those instruments and give us all the pleasure of a concert at a later date, if you've a mind to." 

"I cannae do that, Cap'n," Scotty said, even as he stared longingly at the fiddle he still clutched resolutely in his hands.

"You can and you will," Uhura said, gently. "If it makes a difference, I'll buy you the fiddle. Call an early birthday present." 

"You dinnae need to do that," Scotty said, in surprise, even as Uhura prised the fiddle from his unresisting hand and strode away, to purchase both fiddle and mandolin.

"There you are. You should never argue with a pretty lady, Scotty. You'll always lose," Bones said, with a grin at the flustered engineer. 

"Ye can say that again," Scotty said.

"You should never argue - " Bones began, and laughingly stopped when he caught the scowl upon Spock's face. 

Uhura returned to Scotty's side, and true to her word, she'd purchased both fiddle and bow for Scotty, as well as a hard case in which to keep the instrument safe and dry. 

"And a gift for you, for being such a wonderful accompanist," she said, with a bow towards Scotty.

"Thank ye," was all Scotty could say in return. 

He was glad that he didn't have the chance to form a better response, for he knew his fuddled mind would fail him once again, as it almost always did when it came to interacting with Uhura, for Jim came to his inadvertent rescue and repeated the order to return to the Enterprise. As the transporter's beam rearranged every last atom and molecule that made up one Montgomery Scott, he couldn't help the sudden proud thought that he'd look forward to the time when he could accompany Uhura again; he knew that it would be just as fun, just as magical as the impromptu concert upon Bezuno had been.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[Podfic] A Wonderful Accompanist](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9166870) by [Hananobira](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hananobira/pseuds/Hananobira)




End file.
